No abstract

a b s t r a c tHillslope scale runoff is generated as a result of interacting factors that include water influx rate, surface and subsurface properties, and antecedent saturation. Heterogeneity of these factors affects the existence and characteristics of runoff. This heterogeneity becomes an increasingly relevant consideration as hydrologic models are extended and employed to capture greater detail in runoff generating processes. We investigate the impact of one type of heterogeneity -subsurface permeability -on runoff using the integrated hydrologic model ParFlow. Specifically, we examine the sensitivity of runoff to variation in three-dimensional subsurface permeability fields for scenarios dominated by either Hortonian or Dunnian runoff mechanisms. Ten thousand statistically consistent subsurface permeability fields are parameterized using a truncated Karhunen-Loéve (KL) series and used as inputs to 48-h simulations of integrated surface-subsurface flow in an idealized 'tilted-v' domain. Coefficients of the spatial modes of the KL permeability fields provide the parameter space for analysis using the active subspace method. The analysis shows that for Dunnian-dominated runoff conditions the cumulative runoff volume is sensitive primarily to the first spatial mode, corresponding to permeability values in the center of the threedimensional model domain. In the Hortonian case, runoff volume is sensitive to multiple smaller-scale spatial modes and the locus of that sensitivity is in the near-surface zone upslope from the domain outlet. Variation in runoff volume resulting from random heterogeneity configurations can be expressed as an approximately univariate function of the active variable, a weighted combination of spatial parameterization coefficients computed through the active subspace method. However, this relationship between the active variable and runoff volume is more well-defined for Dunnian runoff than for the Hortonian scenario.

The boundary layer, land surface, and subsurface are important coevolving components of hydrologic systems. While previous studies have examined the connections between soil moisture, groundwater, and the atmosphere, the atmospheric response to regional water-table drawdown has received less attention. To address this question, a coupled hydrologic–atmospheric model [Parallel Flow hydrologic model (ParFlow) and WRF] was used to simulate the San Joaquin River watershed of central California. This study focuses specifically on the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in simulations with two imposed water-table configurations: a high water table mimicking natural conditions and a lowered water table reflecting historic groundwater extraction in California’s Central Valley, although effect of irrigation was not simulated. An ensemble of simulations including three boundary layer schemes and six initial conditions was performed for both water-table conditions to assess conceptual and initial condition uncertainty. Results show that increased regional water-table depth is associated with a significant increase in peak PBL height for both initial condition and boundary layer scheme conditions, although the choice of scheme interacts to affect the magnitude of peak PBL height change. Analysis of simulated land surface fluxes shows the change in PBL height can be attributed to decreasing midday evaporative fraction under lowered water-table conditions. Furthermore, the sensitivity of PBL height to changes in water-table depth appears to depend on local water-table variation within 10 m of the land surface and the regional average water-table depth. Finally, soil moisture changes associated with lowered water tables are linked to changes in PBL circulation as indicated by vertical winds and turbulence kinetic energy.

Abstract. Widespread irrigated agriculture and a growing population depend on the complex hydrology of the San Joaquin River basin in California. The challenge of managing this complex hydrology hinges, in part, on understanding and quantifying how processes interact to support the groundwater and surface water systems. Here, we use the integrated hydrologic platform ParFlow-CLM to simulate hourly 1 km gridded hydrology over 1 year to study un-impacted groundwater-surface water dynamics in the basin. Comparisons of simulated results to observations show the model accurately captures important regional-scale partitioning of water among streamflow, evapotranspiration (ET), snow, and subsurface storage. Analysis of this simulated Central Valley groundwater system reveals the seasonal cycle of recharge and discharge as well as the role of the small but temporally constant portion of groundwater recharge that comes from the mountain block. Considering uncertainty in mountain block hydraulic conductivity, model results suggest this component accounts for 7-23 % of total Central Valley recharge. A simulated surface water budget guides a hydrograph decomposition that quantifies the temporally variable contribution of local runoff, valley rim inflows, storage, and groundwater to streamflow across the Central Valley. Power spectra of hydrograph components suggest interactions with groundwater across the valley act to increase longer-term correlation in San Joaquin River outflows. Finally, model results reveal hysteresis in the relationship between basin streamflow and groundwater contributions to flow. Using hourly model results, we interpret the hysteretic cycle to be a result of dailyscale fluctuations from precipitation and ET superimposed on seasonal and basin-scale recharge and discharge.